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Why KDE Plasma Makes Sense For Linux Gaming

Posted by timothy on from the compatibility-matters dept.

sfcrazy writes "Martin Gräßlin, a lead KDE developer, addresses some queries around a topic bugging Gnome and Unity users — the fallback mode. In this post he says that 'having the non-composited mode around allows us to do things like turning compositing off when running games or heavy OpenGL based applications such as Blender. So if you want to get some of the now finally available games for Linux, KDE Plasma should be your primary choice to enjoy the game. I have also heard of users switching to KDE Plasma because we still provide non OpenGL based setups.'"

6 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Alternative: XFCE by gagol · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I much prefer the simplicity and conservatism of XFCE4. Can optionally use compositing too and no need to relearn interface.

    --
    Tomorrow is another day...
    1. Re:Alternative: XFCE by Threni · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I switched to (Linux Mint 13) KDE precisely because I didn't want to learn a new interface (Unity). It's great. I used XFCE and LXDE previously, having read of their great suitability for lower end hardware, but..well, I don't have any low end hardware. I have nothing special but it runs KDE perfectly, and it looks great. I can't be bothered to learn all the ins and outs of it - I launch stuff via what I'll always call the 'start menu' or shortcuts or from the 'task bar' - but it's good to know that there's more to it if I could be bothered to learn it. The point is, nobodies forcing me to use it. There seem to be a rash of these Mac-like OSes these days (including the hilarious Windows 8) - I don't quite understand the appeal.

    2. Re:Alternative: XFCE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There seem to be a rash of these Mac-like OSes these days (including the hilarious Windows 8) - I don't quite understand the appeal.

      That's because you (like most of us here) learned about computers using devices with separate keyboard, mouse and screen. We are currently at the tipping point where more youth learn about computers through devices with only a touchscreen (phones, tablets) and have never used a laptop.

      That tipping point is driving interfaces that cater to the touchscreen user experience, even though those interfaces don't allow for as much interaction as UIs driven by the keyboard/mouse/screen user experience.

    3. Re:Alternative: XFCE by markdavis · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well, you might want to skip MS-Windows 8 too, then. I messed with it for a few hours on my new touchscreen ultrabook Lenovo Twist before blowing it away to install Fedora.

      All I can say is that Win8 is absolutely hideous. It is pretty at first, until you have to actually try and DO something, then it quickly throws up dozens of barriers. I can't imagine being forced to have to use such a monster on a regular basis.

      The Twist only comes with 128MB SDD and almost *HALF* of it was completely consumed by the Win8 *BEAST*. And that is with almost no crapware and very few useful things installed at all.

      In contrast, Fedora 17 just *FLIES* on the machine, everything worked out of the box (even the touchscreen) except the card reader (which I had to compile a driver). After installing thousands of packages- KDE, LXDE, games, browsers, test editors, multi-media tools and editors, graphics manipulation, several productivity apps, full dev system, etc, it used 5GB.

      I am curious to see if KDE can incorporate a tablet-like interface that can co-exist with a real desktop-like interface with auto-switching on the fly (kind of the whole point of the Twist). They have all the components and probably the best environment to make it happen....

    4. Re:Alternative: XFCE by Inigo+Montoya · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's very likely, as interfaces evolve, that we will have specialized "developer" versions of these interfaces. These developer versions enable you to be creative, and to do all that you need to do to make an application that is primarily targeted at these newer interfaces, including having keyboard access, pen, 3d input mice, multiple monitors, system simulators, etc...

      This is already the case with game consoles; There is always a developer version of the hardware.

      In time, I expect the same from an OS targeted for end-users.

  2. Strange behavior with LXDE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A week or two ago I tested LXDE and KDE to see which one would run the best with the new Serious Sam and Unigine. With the Nvidia 304 driver, LXDE was always slower than KDE with or without compositing. This issue went away with the Nvidia 310 driver, LXDE and KDE without compositing were just about the same speed.

    I have no idea what caused the slowdown, however it shows that the game's FPS does not necessarily improve with a "light" DE. Compositing however made a difference.